European Ports to Promote Female Employment

The European Sectoral Social Dialogue on Ports ratified two joint papers dealing with “Recommendations on Women’s Employment in the Port Sector” and “Training and Qualifications” on 21 October.

The joint paper “Recommendations on Women’s Employment in the Port Sector” expresses social partners’ concerns on the low levels of women employed as port workers, especially taking into consideration the evolution of the nature of port work.

Port employers and employees engaged with this joint paper to guarantee equal opportunities and working conditions for women, promote the sector’s image in terms of female integration, and boost the evolution of recruitment policies aimed at attracting female candidates to the sector.

Women working in ports do not mention the dominating male culture as a problem, but rather the lack of adequate facilities and safety clothes of suitable sizes as the main issues to be tackled in the sector, according to a survey presented by the workers’ delegation .

The work within ports has become less physical, and even in port operations that require more physical jobs, women can perform equally well as men.

The joint paper on “Training and Qualification” aims at starting discussions on training guidelines in order to address current and future training issues in European ports.

These guidelines would take into consideration future training needs of the sector in light of technological and logistical changes and changes in customer demand.

At same time, the aim would be to ensure that guidelines remain relevant to both employers and employees in terms of health and safety as well as competitiveness of the sector.

Press Release; Image: Transnet Port Terminals